Neureuther helps deliver German 1-2 punch in Kranjska Gora slalom

Felix Neureuther in the Kranjska Gora finish. GEPA/Wolfgang Grebien

By winning the slalom at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia Sunday (March 9), Felix Neureuther passed his dad, Christian, on the all-time World Cup slalom win list (7 to 6), led a one-two sweep of a World Cup race with Fritz Dopfer — a first for German men — and took over the lead of the slalom standings by five points over Marcel Hirscher with Henrik Kristoffersen climbing to third, 40 points back keeping alive his title chances.

It wasn’t all bad news for Hirscher. Though he skied conservatively, he did narrowly regain the lead for the World Cup overall standings by four points over Aksel Lund Svindal with just the four races of World Cup Finals remaining, setting up a race by race shootout. The fifth-place finish by Hirscher was his worst slalom result since a 23rd at Kitzbuehel and a 15th at Zagreb in 2011 – the other 26 finishes in that time have all been podium results.

It was a great day to be a spectator; the sun was shining, it was warm and the ski racing was mind-bogglingly good. The top 11 after the first run were all within the same second. The course, still firm at top and softening progressively toward the bottom, supplied strategic requirements and the entire season was on the line for many. The Slovenian crowd cheered for the skiing, not the skiers, and showed appreciation of the mastery, causing several competitors to shout thanks to them from the finish area.

It was the final regular season race for Canadian Michael Janyk who had just announced his retirement, and he celebrated by taking the third start of the second run to the leaders box where he stood soaking in the atmosphere through 10 subsequent skiers. He finished in 15th place. Three U.S. skiers, Ted Ligety (16th), Will Brandenburg (23rd) and Nolan Kasper (26th) made the flip. Dave Chodounsky failed to finish the first run, though he qualified for Finals in slalom. For Brandenburg, it was his first time back in the points since 2012.

The Podkoren 3 race course, baked in the sun, softened nastily from the mid-second down. Though it held up pretty well on the top steep, it got chewed up on the relatively flat middle section before the final pitch where it was softer still despite heroic efforts by the veteran work crew to maintain it. It was rare to see any competitor picking up time from the middle of the course on down.

Axel Baeck, the man who knocked Jaynk off the top step, finished tenth. Jean-Baptiste Grange, showing his best form of the season, rode a solid first run into sixth. Patrick Thaler, one of the few who did make up ground on the final pitch, wound up fourth.

Hirscher, who appeared stunned after the first run, committed an error on the final steep then compounded it with a second slip two gates above the finish and never held the lead, sliding in behind Thaler.

Dopfer, working hard the whole length of the hill, got the lead that held up against Matthias Hargin and the stunning wunderkinder Kristoffersen. That left Neureuther and first run leader Mario Matt to contend. Neureuther lost bits of his first run margin until the final pitch when he picked up the pace and charged into a 0.59 of a second lead.

Matt, the Olympic champion, should have been brimming with confidence, but no part of his run looked comfortable and he got worse as he progressed, eventually crossing the finish line on his back giving the Germans the one-two finish.

“It was a great race,” said U.S. coach Sasha Rearick. “There was excellent competition today in absolutely perfect weather. It was warm so the snow did soften up a bit for the second run but they did a great job holding it together with salt. Ted had two consistent runs without any major mistakes. It was balanced skiing but nothing blazing. It was also good to see Brandenburg back in the point for the first time in a few years. He had tremendous speed for the top two thirds of the course in both runs, then backed off a bit toward the bottom. Still, this was a good result to move forward on.

“Nolan skied the bottom on the first run as good as anybody, then went a little round on the second and made a mistake on the bottom roll – the same place that was separating guys from first and fourth,” added Rearick. “Unfortunately Chodounsky hooked a tip right at the bottom of the first run and was disqualified. He’s skiing well but just needs to let himself go. Hopefully we’ll see some of the speed he’s capable of at World Cup Finals.”

THE SCOOP

Men’s World Cup slalom, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia,March 9, 2014

Equipment – skis/boots/bindings

1 Neureuther, Nordica/Nordica/Marker

2 Dopfer, Nordica/Nordica/

3 Kristoffersen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

4 Thaler, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

5 Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

6 Grange, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

7 Hargin, Nordica/Nordica/

8 Pinturault, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

9 Larsson, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

10 Baeck, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

10 Gross, Voelkl/Fischer/Marker

10 Moelgg, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

Men’s World Cup slalom, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia,March 9, 2014. … It is the 31^st of 35 races on the men’s schedule with four remaining. … It is the eighth of nine slaloms. … It is the 81^st World Cup race hosted at Kranjska Gora… the 42^nd slalom. … It is very warm again for the second run. … A great, appreciative crowd.

It is the ninth career World Cup win for Felix Neureuther. … His seventh in slalom (one better than his dad Christian’s slalom win mark). … It is his fourth win of the season, the third in slalom. … It is the first win at Kranjska Gora for either Neureuther. It is the first German win at Kranjska Gora since Armin Bittner won the 1990 slalom.

It is the fourth career World Cup podium for Fritz Dopfer (without a win). … It is the first German men’s one-two World Cup finish, though both Neureuther and Dopfer were on the same podium in the GS at Adelboden last season, won by Ted Ligety.

It is the sixth career World Cup podium for Henrik Kristoffersen. …. It had been 10 years since a Norwegian male other than Kristoffersen had a slalom podium.

It is the 63^rd career World Cup scoring result for Michael Janyk… his fifth of the season. … It is the 56^th career World Cup slalom score for Ted Ligety. … his eighth at Kranjska Gora. … It is the sixth career World Cup scoring result for Will Brandenburg… his first of the season. … It is the 16^th scoring result for Nolan Kasper… his second of the season (plus an Olympic finish).

With four races remaining (one in DH, one in SG, one in GS and one in SL), Marcel Hirscher (fifth in race) leads the World Cup overall standings 1050-1046 over Aksel Lund Svindal (did not race). … Alexis Pinturault (eighth in race) is third overall with 819pts. … Ted Ligety (16^th in race is fourth with 744pts and Bode Miller (did not race) eighth with 515pts. … Erik Guay (did not race) leads Canada in 13^th with 440pts.

With one race remaining, Neureuther takes over the lead of the slalom standings 470-465 over Hirscher. … Kristoffersen is third with 430pts. … Mattias Hargin in fourth cannot win the title. … David Chodounsky (DNF 1^st in race) leads Americans in the slalom standings in 18^th with 93pts. … Janyk is top Canadian in 27^th with 63pts.

Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup 4788-3226 over France. … Norway is third with 2782. … The U.S. is fifth with 2178pts and Canada ninth with 1037pts.

RESULTS